Consumers are more tolerant of advertising than you might think. With free content making up a lot of what is consumed online, most people know that someone has to foot the bill.
And they don’t mind ads when the content related to it is high quality. But consumer ad tolerance starts taking a deep dive when the ads themselves become irrelevant or annoying. So, here are some creative tips for native ads you can deploy via push notifications without alienating anyone’s target audience.
1. Make the Headline and Description Count
You have very little real estate for this all-important eye-catcher. The headline of a push notification ad is usually only two to three words because it has to fit in about 20 characters of space. Get right to the point when you write headlines, letting users know immediately why they should click. It’s because you have something to offer them. It’s a deal, free or important — use words to convey the main benefit.
Expand on those ideas with the short description, which can be an additional 40 characters or so. Your goal should be to use powerful language that entices the person to find out more. But don’t waste characters saying “discover more” or “click now” or “find out more.” Users are familiar with the drill, and they know what to do with the notification if the headline and description are interesting.
2. Carefully Select an Image
Keep the image small and mobile-friendly or it will truncate and any impact will be lost. Stick to 300 X 250 or square images that are under 1MB in size for the best results across a myriad of devices, and remember that while pictures are worth thousands of words, this image doesn’t trump your headline and description. With push notifications — especially on mobile — someone is likely to see the text and logo first and only see the image if they click or swipe.
That doesn’t mean you leave out the picture altogether; just make sure your text conveys a point with or without the accompanying image.
3. Opt for Simplicity Whenever Possible
You’re not reinventing the wheel or conveying complex information in push notification ads. Instead, you should be distilling each ad message down to a simple core and building the text and images around that. What one thing do you want people to think when they see your ad, and how can everything you put in it speak to that goal?
Use bright, bold colors and images that catch the eye, but try to keep the subject of pictures simple to avoid overwhelming the user in a small micro-moment. A single adorable puppy will get more clicks related to dog products than a tiny picture that houses a dozen dogs, for example.
4. Try, and Try Again
Push notification ads offer a great opportunity to increase click-through and revenue, but you have to make sure your efforts are bearing fruit. Put the tips above into action and then test the results of each ad so you can make appropriate changes.
And if you need help leveraging this exciting new opportunity, contact Jeeng for more information.
